Papaya, Zucchini, and Monkey Chow

Trapping has been stupendous. Not because we are getting the monkeys high on ketamine and then taking their blood and measurements, but because I am able to help take the monkey's blood and measurements, then watch them come down from their drugs as I shove all the papaya and zucchini and chow that they can eat into their cages. To put it simply, I am very happy to finally be busy all day! Also it's very entertaining to watch drugged up monkeys munch on papaya as if it is the only food they've eaten in weeks. Which is actually half-true, since for the past two weeks most of them haven't been able to stuff their faces as they usually do.

Trapping

Trapping season has arrived and my days collecting behavioral data and hanging out with monkeys in the field is over. Thus, my 'monkey a day' has also come to a close. From here on out, I will be performing laboratory work taking morphometrics, helping with blood draws, and taking care of the monkeys when they wake up. I won't be posting every day, but I will give updates if anything interesting happens! And to commemorate my time in the field, I've compiled a bunch of monkey head shots I've taken on Cayo over the past 11 weeks.

I call it "Monkeys of Cayo"

Homework

I spent a few hours on the beach today doing some reading for the Biology Foreign Study Program in Costa Rica next winter. It was a very relaxing Sunday!

Hobbies

I've been working on painting in my free time. It's a great way to relax!

Relaxing just like this sloth

El Día Final

Today was the last day of behavioral data collection before trapping season starts. The Yale team and I were the only researchers on the island so it was a pretty quiet work day. The monkeys were also acting pretty freaked out- I think they know trapping season is fast approaching. Group V even came over to Big Cayo in the afternoon!

Goodbye for now, monkeys. Next time we see each other you will be hopped up on drugs getting your blood taken in the lab.

The Day of Thanks

All of the researchers got together for an authentic Thanksgiving feast! I brought the salad (the only green thing at the table). It was a lovely day of eating, drinking, and meeting old and new researchers who arrived in Punta for trapping season.

The Day Before Thanksgiving

Today the researchers and CPRC staff all celebrated thanksgiving together at Daniels Seafood. When I walked into the dining room, there was a documentary called "Primates of the Caribbean" (get it?) playing on the TV. It was filmed just a few years ago and is about what the researchers study on Cayo and goes into a bit of detail into the lives of group F monkeys. Yeah, that's right, I work with the famous monkeys. While watching the documentary, we enjoyed a yummy lunch of salad, potato salad, rolls, turkey, and (for pescatarians) a buttery fish fillet. Desert was perfect- a choice between flan de queso (tastes a bit like cheesecake) and flan de calabaza (sorta like pumpkin pie).

42L was definitely enjoying her Thanksgiving buffet